Volunteer in the Black Hills

Have heart. Give hope.

Volunteers at Black Hills Children's Home enhance our work in providing excellent service to our children. To insure the safety and well being of the children in our care, all volunteers who spend direct time with a child must be at least 21 years old and complete an application process which includes fingerprinting and background checks. Children's Home Society serves children with moderate to severe emotional and behavioral needs. Any volunteers who have mentoring relationships with children must also complete various levels of training.

Due to the time and expense invested in obtaining clearance for our volunteers who wish to work directly with the children we serve, volunteers who serve in this capacity will be asked to make as least a one-year commitment.

Thank you for your interest in our volunteer opportunities!

Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC)

Childcare Volunteer

TFC Childcare Volunteers serve as positive role models to children and support staff in providing childcare to TFC children and other children living in TFC households while the parents attend trainings hosted by us.

This position will require at least 10 hours of specialized training regarding supervision of children with mild to moderate behavioral needs.

After training is complete, the general time frame for volunteer opportunities will be 5:00pm - 8:00pm for weekday training and occasional Saturday mornings, averaging 3-6 hours per month.

Download the TFC Volunteer Description PDF for more details regarding this position's responsibilities:

School Buddy

A School Buddy serves as an educational advocate for a child when the child is a ward of the state or his/her legal guardian cannot be located.

You will represent the child in Individual Education Program meetings and quarterly reviews. You will also be available to attend special school events and unit activities on an occasional basis.

This position is a special opportunity to become a friend and mentor to a child and generally requires a time commitment of 4-8 hours per month.

School Volunteer

We are currently seeking individual volunteers with experience teaching the violin. This position needs to be available to work with the music program on Thursday or Friday during school hours.

Unit Buddy

A Unit Buddy serves as an assistant to staff for weekend projects and off-campus field trips with the children.

Activities may include reading with children, games, art projects, scrap booking, picnics, hikes, and trips to the movies. You will become a special friend to the children and staff in the assigned living unit.

This position generally requires a time commitment of 4-6 hours per month.

Campus Friend

Camps Friends will not have direct contact with children, but will assist with projects such as office work, cleaning, organizing, pulling weeds, decorating, and campus beautification needs.

Project and Event Volunteer

Project and Event Volunteers will not have direct contact with children, but will assist with special projects such as blood drives or fundraising events. Tasks may include helping with mailings, making phone calls, organizing data, and more.

Individual and Group Volunteers are vital in fundraising efforts such as collecting batteries and other items from our online wish lists, selling raffle tickets, and selling our children's books.

We are currently seeking volunteer groups to collect tubes and other bike maintenance supplies, and to fix bikes on our Black Hills Children's Home campus.